There is a lot of noise around Portal 2 these days. I've looked at several videos and I'm interested in buying it.
The "problem" (you'll tell me if it's one or not) is that I never played Portal, the first game of the series.
So my question is simple, should I play Portal before play to Portal 2 because:

The story is such that you'd better play the first game first to understand the whole plot.

Some concepts are explained in the first game and not repeated in the second one, which would make me miss some little things.

9 Answers
9

I think it's definitely worthwhile playing Portal first. I just started Portal 2 and would probably have been a bit lost without having played Portal first. There is almost no introduction to how the portal-gun and other stuff works in Portal 2 and there are a lot of references to the previous game.

+1 for the recommendation. You can't appreciate the pure hatred in the antagonist's remarks without playing the first.
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Jeff MercadoApr 26 '11 at 8:50

4

This is a good response, and should be the accepted answer. The enjoyment of Portal2 is significantly improved with a play through of Portal.
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DavidYellApr 26 '11 at 9:56

5

Sorry, you're wrong. Portal 2 actually does a much better job of explaining the Portal Gun to new users than Portal 1 did. (I just re-played Portal 1 and after 2, and it's pretty poor in comparison. Plus you can hear Valve discuss how they improved the explanation in 2 in the developer's commentary.)
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Django ReinhardtApr 26 '11 at 12:03

1

@Django Reinhardt: If I remember correctly, GLaDOS explains stuff quite well in Portal (how the test chambers works, what to do etc.), whereas in Portal 2 she does almost no explaining.. but maybe I'll have to replay Portal as you did.
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bummzackApr 26 '11 at 12:23

7

No, GLaDOS doesn't explain anything! The game mechanics themselves are taught by the user experimenting (remember the room with the moving Portal Gun?). Portal 2 does a much better job of explaining the mechanics.
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Django ReinhardtApr 26 '11 at 12:28

Certainly a lot of the story elements will make more sense if you have played the first game, however I don't think it's absolutely necessary.

As for gameplay instructions and explaining how things work, yeah, you'd be much better off playing the first one first. Portal 2 drops you much more suddenly into the thick of things than Portal 1 did.

Those reasons aside, you should get Portal 1 simply because it's a kickass game!

Gameplay: Portal 2 can stand on its own. The first levels of Portal are also in Portal 2, letting people in on the basics. The later levels explore techniques and mechanics that are not present in Portal 2. Thus, playing Portal and especially mods like Portal: Prelude can give you false expectations for Portal 2.

Plot: this is not really true. Wheatley vaguely hints about what happened in Portal, then GLaDOS "gives it away".

As already suggested and accepted play the original Portal before starting the sequel is preparatory to have even a greater experience with Portal 2.

But suppose that you are so excited because of all wonderful reviews and nice comments you read around, and you really want to start immediately Portal 2, while the game is installing you can spend 15 minutes doing the following things:

You can play Portal 2 without having played Portal first as every game mechanic is presented in Portal 2. However, you'll spoil the story of the first one doing that as it is a direct sequel (and there are many references to the first one, in the story and in some puzzle).

I think it would be a good idea to play the first one, because once you have finished playing Portal 2, you'll want to play it.

There are other reasons for playing Portal 1 before 2 that are not really detailed in the other answers.

Portal 1 is a very short game - short enough to even consider starting & finishing Portal 1 in the same day before making a start on Portal 2

The majority of Portal 1 is arguably a tutorial (made of numerous test chambers) - learning the game mechanics through these levels will shorten the head scratching that may pop up in Portal 2

Portal 1 was well received because it was something different - you will appreciate it more having not experienced Portal 2 beforehand

And as others have stated, Portal 2 is a sequel that follows on from events in Portal 1, but in a more story-driven manner. There is a sense that you are being thrown into the game ready to handle the faster pace of Portal 2 because you went through Portal 1.

If you want the full experience of portal 2, I recommend to play the Half-Life -series first and than the Portal-series. Because there are things in the story of Portal that refer to the story of Half-Life.